According to an article written by Lita Solis-Cohen for Maine Antique Digest in 1997, titled, 'Contents of Snow Hill Nunnery Bowls Them Over,'One of the most interesting sales this summer was held at the auction gallery of Horst Auction Center in Ephrata, Pennsylvania. The contents of the Snow Hill Nunnery were sold, which was a community founded in the eighteenth-century being a direct offshoot of the Ephratta Cloisters (religious community established in Ephratta, Pennsylvania in 1732 by Johann Conrad Beissel).
Clarence Spoon, who cataloged the sale, said, "The buildings, dating from 1814 through 1830 housed the celibate brothers and sisters and the married congregation. The last celibate died in 1896 and things remained untouched until now. It is a time capsule. Most of the furniture was made there in the cabinet shop, and everything is in as-found condition, much of it paint decorated."
Also according to Clarence Spoon, "There is an adult-sized cradle used for an elderly blind sister. Linens include homespun chaff bags and sheets and pillow covers with initials on them so the owners can be identified. Imagine finding forty matching slip-decorated redware serving bowls in fine condition probably made by the Bell family (John Bell) in (nearby) Waynesboro, Pennsylvania. Quincy is only a few miles from Waynesboro.
With the help of my sister-in-law, it took me from February (1997) until June (1997) to clean the mud wasps from the drawers of chests, remove bird dirt from the benches, and rescue a few rye straw baskets. Two groundhogs chewed the bottoms out of most of them. We dumped the chaff out of the bed ticks and discarded as many textiles as we saved because they had been gnawed on by rodents."
The collection of redware bowls which are presumed to have been made new for the Snow Hill Society did very-well. A small number of the bowls have sold again since this important sale achieving similar prices to what they brought in 1997.
"Forty redware bowls decorated with green and white flower-like slip stars sold for prices ranging from $5,500 to $15,500 (note: there was no buyer's premium charged for this sale) for a total of $345,000. The forty bowls accounted for more than 41% of the sale, which totaled $837,860.
Each of the Snow Hill bowls was decorated with a large six, seven, eight or nine-pointed white slip star or flower, each accented with three or four green slip lines. The stars were surrounded by one to four lines of green slip alternating with wavy lines of white slip. The bowls, which were probably made at the Bell family pottery in nearby Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, were used to serve stew during a ritual love feast by the German Seventh Day Baptist nuns and monks in the nineteenth-century. There were also several pieces of redware stamped by John Bell that were included in the sale."
19th Century Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Bowl Made for the Show Hill Society in Quincy, PA
Probably Made at John Bell's Pottery in Waynesboro, PA
This is One of the 40 Bowls that Sold Through Horst Auction Center in 1997
Stands 2 3/4" Tall
Measures 10 7/8" in Diameter
This Bowl Sold Again in 2012
Photo Courtesy: Pook & Pook Auctions - Downington, PA
The reason I decided to write about these bowls tonight is the result of finding a bowl yesterday morning at Todd's Farm Flea Market in Rowley, Massachusetts that is decorated with a stamped eight-pointed star prominently placed in the center of the bowl - and, another (subtle) stamped six-pointed star is seen on the base of the bowl.
After briefly reviewing records in my library, my research - and, through past auction results - I found that any kind of star decoration on red earthenware is rather rare today whether it was applied in slip or by means of a stamp. Personally, I believe the red earthenware bowls made for the Snow Hill Society are probably the most important red earthenware objects known today from an American utilitarian red earthenware potter which are decorated with a star; although, there are other objects with similar decorations known today that include plates and jars.
I asked the Portland, Maine dealer at the flea market if he knew any history of the bowl or where he got it - he told me that it recently came from a home in Somersworth, New Hampshire, which is a few miles northwest of Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
Todd's Farm Flea Market - Sunday August 23, 2015
Todd's Farm Flea Market - Sunday August 23, 2015
Todd's Farm Flea Market - Sunday August 23, 2015
Todd's Farm Flea Market - Sunday August 23, 2015
I initially felt that based on the glaze alone that this bowl may have been made in Pennsylvania in the nineteenth-century; however, the stamps on the interior and the base may suggest otherwise seeing that it does remind me of some stamps that were used on a select group of red earthenware products that were made in eastern Tennessee before and after the American Civil War. For what it matters, I don't believe this bowl has any kind of connection to the New England potter's industry in the nineteenth-century.
This finely made small polychrome decorated bowl shows a combination of a green and orange glaze with black or manganese dots speckled throughout the glaze.
19th Century Red Earthenware Bowl Decorated with a Star in the Center and on the Base
Probably Made in Pennsylvania
Circa 1840-1880
Stands 1 1/4" Tall
Measures 5 1/4" in Diameter
Purchased Yesterday at Todd's Farm Flea Market in Rowley, Mass.
Recently Discovered in a Home in Somersworth, NH
View of the Base
Please Stay Tuned...Much More to Come...
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